Lil Cutesies Dress

I love the way color can change the look of a pattern. I made this outfit for the 2021 Lil Cutesies Doll doll donation mirroring the colors in the pattern you can purchase here. Changing the yarn to green gave the dress a different look.

I used a B hook for this pattern.

Notes:

I did not use the tie suggested in the back. Instead I joined the back together. The back is wide enough that you can easily slide the doll in and out of the dress without needing to add a tie. It is just makes it easier for a child to dress the doll.

The biggest change I made was preparing for the skirt. One technique I've picked up this year for adding both skirts and trims which I've really liked is crocheting in the back loops of the row you later will add a skirt or trim. This technique was not used for this pattern and I didn't like the way my skirt looked using the method suggested. This resulted in my using my original attempt for a differnt proect and restarting and rethinking how to create this outfit which would allow for a row with backloops to add the skirt.

I left off a row of the knickers which I then replaced when I added the bodice. This let me use the actual first row of the bodice to crochet the row in back loops to allow me to use the front loops later for my my skirt row. Others may not find this necessary but I found it was much easier to get an even starter row for the skirt all around.

I'm also adding a note to remind myself that the first skirt row and the remiaing skirt rows are different. This doesn't give away the design notes but I didn't read the directions carefully and wondered why my skirt did not look like the one in the picture. Once I followed the directions I got the fuller look I wanted.

Also, I'm still working out the bulkiness of the knickers. I haven't quite mastered this challenge yet. I like that they attach to the skirt, but I'm still struggling with the problem that both times I've made this the knickers are bulky. I'm thinking leaving out some crotch stiches might be a solution.

As far as color choices go for making this in the future I rather like this color combo. A reminder to myself the top color is also the knickers color. Just something for me to remember when consider how much yarn I have available for a project. Sometimes I think I can finish a project with a small ball but in this case it is not just a small trim but a larger part of the project.